The programmes that surround them might habitually rely on cliffhangers to maintain attention, but advert breaks are not normally known for their sense of jeopardy. That could all change tonight when Channel 4 and Honda stage the first ever live advert on British television, featuring a team of skydivers leaping out of a plane over Madrid.

During the first ad break of the reality show Come Dine With Me at 8.10pm, the 19 skydivers will have three minutes and 20 seconds to spell out the word Honda, inspired by the car manufacturer's new advertising strapline: "Difficult is worth doing".

Organisers were yesterday hoping the weather in Spain would hold as the team practised. "There will be no time delay and no CGI [computer-generated imagery]. If it works, people will know who it's for. If it doesn't, they won't," said Ian Armstrong, Honda's manager of customer communications.

The stunt is a means of gaining publicity for Honda's new multi-million pound ad campaign, which features 45 skydivers promoting the Honda Accord by creating a series of shapes over the Mojave desert to reflect new features on the car.

But it is also part of a wider drive by broadcasters to maintain the relevance of TV advertising in the era of fast-forward. Advertising agencies have been forced to raise their game in recent years, to get viewers' attention. Increased choice and viewer fragmentation, driven by the explosion in digital channels, have made advertising breaks easier than ever to avoid. "Time shifted" viewing via personal video recorders like Freeview Plus and Sky Plus has also made advertisers and their agencies work ever harder to prevent viewers skipping their commercials.

"More people are watching television than ever before. But things are becoming more complicated. People have to want to watch something, you can't force them. People will navigate towards the good stuff and ignore the bad stuff," said Armstrong.

The results can be seen in the spate of award winning "event" campaigns of recent years, including Sony Bravia's "balls" and "paint" adverts, Cadbury's Dairy Milk gorilla and Honda's "cog" campaign, which featured an intricate study in perpetual motion. "We always want to find clever ways of engaging with people and reaching people," said Honda's marketing and communications manager, Harry Cooklin, explaining how Channel 4's idea won out over 19 others.

Channel 4's sales director, Andy Barnes, who like other broadcast executives is battling a looming advertising downturn, said the advert, which required special dispensation from the advertising watchdog, broke "the boundaries of the perceived confines of TV advertising".

"We wanted to create something unmissable and what better way to produce something 'must see' than to stage the first live ad event on TV," he added. "It's about creating talkability on a big scale, managing the risk and being seen as pioneers for it."

Channel 4's internal department dedicated to developing innovative ways of using the medium for advertisers has already been responsible for initiatives such as a "themed break" during Grand Designs Live for products known for their design, a "retro break" featuring new and old adverts during the channel's 25th birthday programming last year, and green themed breaks around the environmental season Dumped.

Others claimed to have produced live ads, but Channel 4 said that all previous examples were broadcast "as live" rather than going out as they happened. In 2006, the online dating site Match.com booked a series of ad breaks during ITV's Celebrity Love Island. Members who won a competition to appear were filmed in ITV studios in front of a live audience making a plea for love to the watching millions. But the inserts went out on air 15 minutes later.

Earlier that year, Ford ran a campaign featuring a "live" competition. Viewers were asked a question about the commercial and invited to enter a competition via the internet, telephone or text. Later in the evening, the advert ran again with a graphic announcing the winner.

Television historians, of course, might argue that the first live adverts were on US television in the 1950s. All TV was live, and the camera would pan from game show contestants to the host, who would endorse a brand of soap powder or coffee that had helped fund the programme.

Ad firsts

First British TV ad

Gibbs SR toothpaste (above) won a lottery to be the first advert at ITV's launch on September 22 1955. It was little more than a jerkily moving newspaper advert, spoken in received pronouciation. Bernard Levin wrote in the Manchester Guardian next day: "I feel neither depraved nor uplifted ... I have already forgotten the name of the toothpaste."

First sponsorship

Advertisers quickly latched on. The station clock became prime real estate, one cigarette manufacturer using it to proclaim: "Time to light a Red and White". This was banned in 1960.

First ad-funded editorial content

"Advertising magazines", banned in 1963, were designed to spin a loose narrative linking several products. The most famous was Jim's Inn.

First colour commercial

Aired in 1969, the first colour commercial was for Birds Eye frozen peas.

First interactive ads

Mazda launched the first "interactive" ads, which viewers recorded to find a competition answer. In 2000, the first "red button" ad allowed Sky viewers to order a voucher for a free jar of Chicken Tonight cooking sauce. Source: National Media Museum